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School Building Authority: new per‑square‑foot guidelines, backlog cleared after supplemental appropriation
Summary
The School Building Authority reported investments across 47 counties, a backlog cleared with legislative funding, and updated per‑square‑foot construction standards to better match current market conditions for new school construction.
Andy Neptune, executive director of the School Building Authority (Speaker 6), told the committee the SBA is active in 47 of 55 counties and has used recent appropriations to clear a backlog of needs for new construction, major improvement projects (MIP) and multi‑county technical centers.
Neptune said SBA updated its square‑foot funding to reflect current construction markets; "elementary schools now are at $447 a square foot, middle school 442, high school 440," he told legislators. The SBA also funded MIP projects and multi‑county technical center projects with the supplemental funds provided earlier in the year.
On renovations, Neptune said the square‑foot standards are for new construction; renovation costs vary by site and scope and can be substantially higher because of factors such as asbestos abatement or major site preparation. He noted that site preparation costs are generally separate from the per‑square‑foot standard.
Neptune said the March backlog of MIP and other needs has been funded with the legislative appropriation and that applications for new projects remain due this week. Lawmakers thanked the director and asked follow‑up questions about renovation standards and multi‑county funding formulas; Neptune said some elements of the funding approach are set in code and reflect longstanding design choices.
No formal vote was taken on the presentation.
